A memorial for Swami Vivekananda to mark his stay in Mysuru in 1892 is set to be a reality with the performance of the ground breaking ceremony here on Wednesday.
Amidst the chanting of the Vedic hymns and mantras by monks of Sri Ramakrishna Ashram, the groundbreaking ceremony was performed for the ₹36.23 crore project which will focus on personality development of youth.
Swami Vivekananda had stayed at the Niranjan Mutt in Mysuru for some days and was the guest of the then Mysuru maharaja Chamarajendra Wadiya X before leaving for the U.S. to participate in the World Parliament of Religions in 1893. Hence, a memorial was proposed at the site and the land transferred to Ramakrishna Mission which was vested with the responsibility of completing the project.
The memorial will also have a cultural centre and an amphi-theatre and apart from spiritual and philosophical centre, it will also be a training centre helping the youth by offering job-oriented vocational courses. The project envisages regular conduct of personality development course, training youth in rural development, provide information and education on Indian culture and philosophy, training in music and fine arts, a training cell to prepare students for competitive examination etc. A museum with photographs and messages of Swami Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa will also be part of the project.
Suttur seer Sri Shivaratri Deshikendra Swamiji who spoke said that it was a historic day as the project commemorates Swami Vivekananda’s stay in Mysuru before he embarked on a tour of the U.S. to spread the glory of Indian culture and philosophy. While there is a memorial for Swami Vivekananda in Chicago where he first addressed the World Parliament of Religions, it is in fitness of things that there be a memorial in Mysuru where the seer stayed before his departure for the U.S., he added.
Swami Muktidananda, President, Ramakrishna Ashram, Mysuru, said it was a 10 year-old resolve that was coming to fruition and the place where Swami Vivekananda lived was in a dilapidated state for decades before efforts were made to restore its sanctity.
Kannada litterateur and Saraswathi Samman awardee S.L. Bhyrappa said that Mysuru had done lot of commendable works and the memorial for Swami Vivekananda was among them. ‘’But there were always people who have opposed any work and so it was the memorial,’’ he said alluding to the protests against the project as a Kannada school had to be shifted to an adjoining building to pave way for the memorial. The issue landed in court and prolonged for 10 years before the High Court order paved way for construction of the memorial.
A host of religious leaders and representatives from various mutts, elected representatives including district in charge minister S.T. Somashekar, MLAs Yathindra Siddaramaiah, S.A.Ramdas, L.Nagendra, Mysuru MP Pratap Simha, Vice Chancellor of University of Mysore Hemantha Kumar etc. were present.
Security was beefed up and the approach roads to the venue was blocked by the police in view of protest by a section of activists.
